home is where your heart is
by Xephonia
Summary: cardshop au. Kaito gets a new coworker.
1. Chapter 1

Kaito has a job.

He's had it for two years now, he basically only has it because his father's connections (the only good thing he has from his father); it's surprisingly well—paid and Kaito works overtime on top of that.

It's enough to pay Haruto's hospital bills, it's enough to pay for Kaito's Duel Monsters cards, it's enough to pay for sufficient amounts of food and that's all Kaito needs anyway.

Kaito works at a card shop.

In fact, it's the same card shop he's played (and still plays) at for weeks, years and months; the same place he used to meet up at with Chris, until one year ago Chris and his family moved away for stupid reasons and it was just Kaito and Haruto again.

Then Haruto's condition worsened, and ever since it's been just Kaito—

(Kaito and Galaxy-Eyes and the lack of good opponents.)

—until now.

"Oi."

The boy with the ridiculous tentacle-like hair stands on the doorstep, somewhat looking like a delinquent, yet much more unfocused; less driven by aggression and more by something Kaito recognizes immediately yet can't quite describe. The bags under his eyes look like Kaito's own, and Kaito sighs.

"And you are?"

"New employee. Starting today. Didn't your boss tell you," The boy pulls out a crumpled piece of paper. "Kaito?"

Kaito thinks for a bit and, _yeah, some days ago Mr. Heartland did mention that_. About time, too, since lately Mr. Heartland has been sending Droite and Gauche to help out pretty much anywhere that isn't this shop.

(And while Yuuma— despite being a customer— tries to help sometimes, he's, well, Yuuma.)

'You can handle it alone, right, Kaito? Since your brother needs the money for his treatment,' is what Mr. Heartland says every time. Kaito hates his guts.

It's 7:30 and they open at 9.

"Your name?"

"Kamishiro Ryouga. People call me Shark."

 _And I thought my nickname was ridiculous._

The players have taken to calling Kaito the 'Number Hunter' because of all the Number cards he's collected in duels with the ante rule.

(And he would like it a lot more if he wasn't doing it to keep his money balance positive.)

"Ryouga, then." Kaito starts pulling out boxes and putting them on the table, and from the corner of his eye he sees that Ryouga is scowling.

 _Do I have to tell him how to do everything?_

Kaito has never had to tell anyone what to do before, and incompetence is something he definitely can't take this early in the morning.

"Put your bag somewhere and help me separate these cards by rarity."

Instructions seem to help, since Ryouga immediately does as told, in fact, does it with ease.

 _He probably plays a lot._

Most people who work at card shops do, no one else would stand an environment like that. Ryouga seems like he plays on a regular basis, though, probably even at tournaments, with the way he critically eyes the cards, much like Kaito himself does.

"Do employees get a discount on cards?" Ryouga is eyeing the copy of Number C103: Ragnafinity that's in the glass case at the entrance— an expensive one; one of the few Secret Rares that were printed, apparently due to a bug in the system.

Kaito thinks he sees a bit of sadness in Ryouga's eyes.

"No." Kaito stands up and gets more boxes. "But you can duel the people here with the ante rule. We can switch between working and dueling."

"Interesting." Ryouga smirks now.

Kaito makes a mental note to duel him sometime.

* * *

Ryouga is good.

Legitimately good, not the trash talking with nothing to show for it that Kaito is used to, but an actual good player.

Ryouga still does trash talk, though. A lot. Kaito figures it's okay as long as Ryouga doesn't embarrass himself by losing.

Kaito yawns and gets two cans from the fridge (at least the energy drinks are for free)— it's only 3 PM but he's already dead tired and he can tell the same goes for Ryouga.

While Ryouga is quickly winning cards with the ante rule, he has yet to win a copy of Ragnafinity. But from the looks of it, he wants it as a Secret Rare anyway, and the chance of finding a rare misprint like that among a bunch of broke teenagers like himself is pretty low.

 _Sucks to be him._

Kaito can't help to wonder why Ryouga is so fixated on that card though. Most people usually take Commons and Rares when they can, and they definitely don't look for the rarest available version of a card.

"Catch." Kaito throws a can in Ryouga's general direction.

"Asshole," Ryouga hisses when he doesn't react fast enough and drops the can, quickly picking it up again and finishing the duel he's in. "Is it time to switch already?"

"Almost."

On Mondays, time seems to pass so much more slowly.

Then something clicks within Kaito.

It's Monday. Earlier when he helped Ryouga make a Heartland Inc. employee ID (because Mr. Heartland insists they have one for reasons that Kaito doesn't think he wants to know), he saw that Ryouga recently turned 17 and also still in high school.

That means—

"Ryouga, don't you have to go soon? Afternoon class?"

"I don't go to school. I work full-time."

 _Oh._

* * *

It's 9:40 PM when they finally manage to chase the last customers out.

"Is it always like this?" Ryouga stretches himself and goes to sweep up the abandoned packaging of booster packs.

"What? The trash? Yeah."

"No, I mean the time it takes to get these idiots out of the shop."

"Yeah, it's always like that." Kaito locks all the closets and shrugs. " pays really well because of that, though."

Ryouga nods, takes his bag and walks towards the door. "Well then. See you."

Ryouga makes a shivering motion when he takes a step outside.

It's winter and the joke of a jacket Ryouga wears definitely isn't enough, but it's not Kaito's business, so he leaves as well and locks the door behind him—

—just to find that he and Ryouga are headed in the same direction.

"Why are you following me?" Ryouga scowls and buries his hands deeper in his pockets. It doesn't seem to help.

"I'm on my way home."

To be precise, Kaito is on his way to the grocery store and then home.

"Tsk."

They walk in silence until they reach a junction and Kaito turns right, waving lightly. "See you."

* * *

It's 10:17 PM and it's raining when Kaito is around 5 minutes away from his apartment. It's dark where he lives, the housing is cheap but that's about it, and so it's not surprising that he bumps into someone and hears the clattering sound of a phone and bags hitting the ground.

 _Hope I didn't break that._

He's not up for trouble tonight.

"Watch out, you—" Ryouga stops in his sentence and looks at Kaito. "You?"

Kaito picks up Ryouga's phone. "Google maps?"

A glance at the map tells him where Ryouga lives.

 _Oh. Neighbours._

Ryouga scowls. The rain drenches his clothes, he stares at Kaito. Kaito stares back.

Kaito sighs. "Follow me." He picks his bag up and gets up, and he doesn't fail to notice that Ryouga has more bags than before.

 _New in town, huh?_

* * *

Ryouga sneezes when they stand in the stairwell, both having their doors open.

Kaito carelessly throws his bag of groceries in his hallway, then turns back to Ryouga. "Go take a hot shower."

"Don't tell me what to do." Ryouga is about to turn around, but—

"Otherwise you'll get sick. Mr. Heartland checks up on us at random, I wouldn't risk it if you need the job."

(And Kaito would get sick too, and he definitely needs the job.)

Ryouga's eyes widen and he bites his lip, looks down at the ground. Then. "Can't shower though. No water yet. They gotta fix something, but that's not gonna be done until the day after tomorrow."

 _Oh. So that's how it is._

Things that need fixing take forever here, that kind of comes with the cheap housing.

Kaito remembers his first nights and how utterly bullshit they were. "You're pathetic."

"What did you say, bastard?!"

"Just stating facts."

"What do you even know about me, you—"

"More than enough. Now get your ass in here and shut up."

"So you're saying you just saved enough money so you can pay for housing, food and beverages for the first month, and not more? How much do you even want that Ragnafinity?" Kaito shakes his head in disbelief before sitting down on his couch next to Ryouga.

Ryouga pulls the blanket closer and takes a sip from his instant ramen. "It's not because of Ragnafinity," he hisses, but his voice lacks its bite. "Do you always eat this... stuff?" He fixes his hair a little; it looks even more ridiculous after its meeting with Kaito's hair dryer.

"You don't have to eat it if you don't like it." Kaito quickly downs his cup of instant ramen, and he's surprised to see that despite the complaints, Ryouga is done as well.

There's a sound of a rumbling stomach.

Kaito sighs. He remembers his own situation and realizes he wasn't much different for the first few days, except he had at least some of Dr. Faker's support since he's doing it for Haruto. "When did you last eat? By the way, you're sleeping over."

"Probably— wait, what?!"

"You're wearing my clothes already, isn't it too late to complain now? You came in here knowing this would happen."

With that, Ryouga has run out of arguments. "You know nothing."

"Because you aren't talking."

"Tsk."

Kaito throws a box of pocky—

(Kaito hates that he still has Chris' favourite snack at home, but it's a habit)

—at Ryouga. "If you want real food, the ingredients are in the kitchen. I'm not gonna make it."

Ryouga scowls, throws the box back at Kaito and actually goes to the kitchen without another word.

 _Oh, well._

Kaito quickly gets out his phone and googles for 'Kamishiro Ryouga' and he's not surprised when he reads of the Kamishiro twins— originally from Barian City— who both had to leave the pro league. Rio because she's hospitalized in Heartland Medical Center ever since she had a car crash; Ryouga because apparently he's cheated in the finals against—

 _Chris, your brother is a mess as always._

There's not a second in which Kaito believes that Ryouga actually cheated— he's seen Ryouga duel and Kaito knows how Thomas is and that he would definitely frame his opponent if one of their stupid Arclight family matters was involved.

* * *

Only the disappearing sound of the frying pan makes Kaito close the browser and put his phone away.

Kamishiro Ryouga is in the exact same situation as he is.

 _I'll leave him the dignity of the thought that I don't know about it._

* * *

Ryouga's cooking is good. Not the kind of 'something Chris would eat at an important family dinner but actually no one likes it' "good" that Kaito couldn't care less about, but good as in leaving him with a warm, comfortable feeling.

Kaito wonders if he missed it. "I didn't expect you to be able to cook."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Ryouga smirks now.

Kaito smirks as well, but he doesn't answer.

They finish their food in silence, then Ryouga clears his throat and speaks again.

"I didn't expect you to be the kind of guy who has beer at home."

"I am not, actually."

After Chris treated him like shit over a dumb family matter, Kaito bought pretty much everything Chris' family hated whenever he felt pissed at Chris over the last year. Beer included, since Chris drinks wine at family dinners.

Kaito doesn't even dislike beer, it's just that he rarely ever gets an opportunity to drink it.

Somehow, Kaito realizes, having someone else look into your fridge is kind of intimate.

"If you say so." Ryouga yawns. "When does the shop open tomorrow?"

"9 AM, but we have a break from 1 PM to 4 PM. Unless you wanna work, of course."

"No, that break is convenient for me."

 _No wonder, it's the hospital's main visiting hours._

Kaito figures that tomorrow he should drop a hint that he's going to the hospital so Ryouga won't get lost again.

"Why do they avoid dueling you?" Ryouga suddenly asks, looking at Kaito with a curiosity that could only come from a duelist.

"Beat them too often. Ante rule. Even without it, they don't wanna lose."

"So you're the best duelist in the shop?"

"Yeah."

Ryouga smirks. "I wouldn't be so sure about that anymore. Up for a duel?"

"Bring it."

* * *

It turns out that they are evenly matched.

No one has one won twice in a row yet, they had a bunch of ties and three hours have passed already.

 _Finally, a good opponent._

The last time Kaito lost a duel was ages ago, when Chris was still around, before Kaito became the duelist he is now; before he was known as the Number Hunter.

It's another tie when Kaito— although reluctantly— suggests that they stop. "It's almost 2 AM and I'm dead tired."

"Scared of losing?"

 _This moron._

"Last duel, you summoned Ragnazero on your first turn despite knowing I have no ATK modifiers. Don't pretend you aren't tired."

At having his misplay pointed out like that, Ryouga scowls. "Fine."

"Then come."

* * *

"How old are you, 12?"

"I'm not sharing a bed with you."

Kaito is sitting on his bed and points to the empty space on his right— there's enough space for Ryouga, more than enough, but Ryouga is crossing his arms and making it hard. Kaito sighs, "Wanna sleep on the couch or in your own apartment then?"

Ryouga scowls. "It's too cold to sleep there."

"No shit." Kaito rolls his eyes. "It's winter, none of us sleeps naked; so stop acting like a baby and get in here. Unless you get proper heating, you're not gonna sleep at your own place so soon anyway."

"...Is your partner okay with that?"

Kaito chokes on his own spit. He coughs twice, then. "What?"

"Why else would you have a twin bed?"

Kaito scowls, because he didn't want to be asked that question,

(—didn't want to be reminded of long silver hair on that very bed he's sitting on right now, of Chris and Chris' smell and Chris' everything—)

didn't expect to be asked that question, either.

 _Too late now._

"Why do people need to be in a relationship to have a twin bed?"

Even in the barely illuminated room, Kaito can see Ryouga's cheeks being tinged red. "Well, you—"

"You're really simple." Kaito smirks. "Stop embarrassing yourself and get to bed, we're gonna need our rest for tomorrow."

This time, Ryouga obliges, but he keeps as much distance from Kaito as possible. "You weren't—"

"I wasn't hitting on you, no. Disappointed?"

Ryouga scowls. "You—" He stops mid-sentence. "Wait, does something bad happen tomorrow?"

"Yuuma happens. You'll understand once you meet him." Kaito yawns and turns off the nightstand lamp. "Night."

"Night."


	2. Chapter 2

Warm arms are wrapped around Kaito's body when he wakes up.

"Chris? Morning..." He mutters half-asleep, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Who'sh Chrish?" Kaito feels Ryouga's breath against his neck, and he quickly realizes that now is not one year ago and that now would be a great time to get his shit together and wake up.

 _Fuck._

"...Ryouga?"

"So, who's Chris? I thought you had no partner?" Ryouga's lips form a smirk against Kaito's skin.

"I didn't say I don't have an ex."

"So you're looking for a rebound? Wow, you're desperate."

"Fuck, no. Besides, you're the wrong one to talk."

Ryouga is laying on top of him, after all.

"Bastard." For a moment, Ryouga seems to freeze; then he moves his arms away a little, but quickly scowls, makes shivering motion and puts his arms back where they were. "Give me the duvet, it's cold."

Kaito somewhat awkwardly pulls the duvet over them and notices that indeed, Ryouga's arms are cold. "What the heck is wrong with your body temperature?"

"What the heck is wrong with the weather in Heartland City?" Ryouga yawns and places his head on Kaito's chest.

Kaito doesn't answer and closes his eyes again, and a look at his alarm tells him that Ryouga probably turned it off at some point.

Ryouga's breathing becomes a bit slower and steadier, and Kaito feels tempted to just go back to sleep and screw work, but he has to go, so he shakes Ryouga lightly. "It's okay if we stay in bed for around half an hour more, but don't fall asleep again."

Ryouga makes a sound that Kaito identifies as a "fuck you", and he looks at up Kaito. "So, what's the story with Chris? Did he dump you?"

Kaito bites his lip because _yes, that's exactly what happened, bastard_ , but instead he just says, "It has nothing to do with you."

Ryouga yawns again. "You're kind of a loser." He snuggles closer.

"Are you really trying to cuddle with me while saying that?"

"It's cold."

Kaito sighs. "You're the loser here." He yawns and pulls Ryouga a bit closer.

Ryouga closes his eyes. "Ew."

* * *

A bit more than half an hour later, Ryouga and Kaito are in the bathroom and they find out that Ryouga has forgotten to buy hair gel, which is why he— badly— attempts to use Kaito's.

"How the hell does your hair gel work?"

Kaito is already finished with his own hair, and he looks at Ryouga and tries to keep a straight face. "You look like—"

"—don't say a thing—"

"—an aroused octopus."

"Why would you even know what that looks like?!" Ryouga washes his hands and scowls.

Kaito sighs. "Sit down and let me do it, you're gonna scare off the customers looking like this."

 _Why does he even have that many spikes in his hairstyle?_

Kaito is quick about it, and he feels Ryouga slightly leaning in to his touch, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wonders if Ryouga is hitting on him, after all.

 _No way._

"Even if you have other hair gel usually, you shouldn't be this shitty at it."

"I rarely had to do it myself until recently." Ryouga says evasively, and then Kaito gets it.

(He remembers Haruto trying to do his hair for him, Haruto actually succeeding, Haruto being the one who chose which hair dye Kaito would use.)

 _His sister did it before._

Kaito says nothing, quickly finishes the job and washes his hands. "Should be okay now."

Ryouga looks at himself in the mirror. "Not spiky enough."

"Do it better if you can."

Ryouga can't and he scowls, he looks at his reflection again and his eyes widen and—

"Where is my necklace?!"

"Why the hell would I—"

"Where is it?" Ryouga storms out of the room.

 _Too impulsive._

* * *

Kaito finds Ryouga's necklace under the duvet and... it's open, it has a picture of Ryouga and his family; they seem happy.

 _Like we used to be. Or maybe we never were?_

Kaito shakes his head, tries to get the thoughts of Haruto out of his head, and he is about to turn around to look for Ryouga— but Ryouga is there already, and he pries the necklace out of Kaito's hands and looks at him, hurt.

Ryouga opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but he grits his teeth, stares for a bit— then, "Let's get going."

They get dressed (Ryouga pointedly doesn't look at Kaito) and Kaito urges Ryouga to hurry because _damn_ , they're late.

Standing in front of the card shop is Yuuma, jumping up and down and waving as Kaito and Ryouga come closer.

"Is that Yuuma?" Ryouga asks.

"You catch on fast."

* * *

When they reach the shop, Yuuma hugs Kaito and Kaito lets it happen; it reminds him of Haruto, but in a good way and not in a _I wish Haruto wasn't sick to the point where he can't leave the hospital_ way.

"So, who's your new friend?"

"Coworker," Kaito and Ryouga say simultaneously.

"So?" Yuuma looks at Ryouga expectantly.

"Kami—" Kaito begins.

"—Shark."

"...God shark?" Yuuma tilts his head.

"Just Shark," Ryouga says— too fast— but Yuuma just smiles.

"Shark, then!"

* * *

It turns out that Ryouga and Yuuma get along quite well. They duel, Yuuma keeps losing, but it's fine; "I'll beat you, Shark!" and Kaito believes it.

Yuuma is still awful at sorting the cards though.

Kaito smirks as he watches Ryouga trashtalk less than before, warm up a little... and Kaito finds himself feeling a bit more at home, too.

It's a thing Yuuma does; he brings in an atmosphere of warmth and family, in a good way.

Yuuma has done it for years, and Kaito thinks they are friends. Yuuma said so, has said so for a while now, and Kaito believes it.

"Kaito, Kaito!" Yuuma's happy voice rips Kaito out of his thoughts. "I beat Shark! Wanna duel me now?"

Kaito shrugs. "Sure. No one's here yet, anyway."

Tuesday mornings are always like this. Yuuma and Kaito spend two hours dueling, and then the first customers come.

Today it's different, Ryouga is here, but Kaito figures—

 _It's not bad._

* * *

"I overlay my Galaxy Knight and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon! I summon—"

"Where's the summon chant?" Yuuma pouts.

Ryouga looks interested now, and Kaito feels himself sweating a little.

It's awkward.

It's one thing to do long summon chants like an anime character in front of Yuuma— Yuuma is excited, Yuuma finds it badass and great and amazing and _wow, Kaito, you come up with great summon chants!_. It's an entirely different thing to do it in front of anyone else.

"Yeah, I wanna hear the chant, too, Kaito." Ryouga smirks.

"Tch." Kaito clears his throat. "Show yourself, ultimate galaxy dragon, Number 62! Light and darkness, wandering eternally through the universe. O Dragons sleeping deep within this place! Gather thy powers to open the gate of truth!  
Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!"

Yuuma is cheerful again. "Great! That monster is so cool!"

"Not bad." Ryouga raises an eyebrow, then he—

 _Is that a smirk or a smile?_

Kaito figures it's both.

It doesn't take him long to finish the duel; 5600 ATK thanks to the effect are nothing to joke with.

"I still want Solid Vision to be a real thing." Yuuma shuffles his deck, content with his loss.

He's dueled Kaito so often and never won so far— although they did have draws—, but he never gets discouraged.

Kaito likes it, most of his opponents give up after a while.

"You'd want to get hit by a laser beam from a dragon?" Ryouga raises an eyebrow.

"I mean, it wouldn't really hurt, just a bit, and it'd be thrilling, so..."

Ryouga shrugs and then looks at Kaito. "Let's duel."

Kaito nods, taking Ryouga's deck and shuffling it for him. "Not like we'll get to a conclusion anyway."

"And do your summon chants this time."

 _Oh._

Kaito smirks. "...You're watching the show, aren't you?"

"Not always, but at least when I have time to. Haven't seen all episodes of the third spin-off though and—"

"What? You have to see the third spin-off! That's the best one!" Yuuma looks at Ryouga like he's committed a crime.

The third spin-off, Kaito knows, has a protagonist who's almost as optimistic as Yuuma.

 _No wonder he likes it so much._

Kaito can't say he doesn't like the show though.

Ryouga shrugs. "Maybe." He hands Kaito his deck and they draw their opening hands.

"Duel!"

"You can watch it at my place, I have all the episodes on my laptop." Kaito figures that in company of other fans of the anime, it isn't so bad to talk about it.

 _Besides, Ryouga probably doesn't have a TV or a laptop or even internet right now._

It's not even that Kaito cares, it's just that the third spin-off is so damn good.

"Ryouga, if you want me to do summon chants, you gotta do your own, too." Kaito points at the Xyz monster Ryouga just put on the field.

Ryouga smirks. "Appear! Number 101! Unappeased soul placed aboard the ark. Arise from the abyss so deep not even light can reach it! Silent Honor's Ark Knight!"

 _It won't get boring._

Kaito repeats Ryouga's earlier statement, "Not bad."

* * *

It's almost 1 PM, and there are barely any customers— most people are at school right now, they tend to come after the break.

Kaito thinks that's convenient, it makes Tuesday a really relaxing day.

"Shark, why did you actually start working here?" Yuuma asks after their third battle royale (none of them wanted to wait while the others dueled).

Ryouga looks nervous suddenly. "It's none of your business."

"Oh come on, Shark—"

Ryouga looks around, looks at Kaito, and Kaito knows that look, it's the look people have when they don't want pity, when they try their best to avoid it.

"He wants my Parallel Rare Rank-Up Magic — Quick Chaos."

That's a bad excuse, because it isn't really that expensive, but Yuuma either doesn't notice for real or doesn't notice on purpose (both is likely since it's Yuuma).

"Oh? That card is great!"

Ryouga raises an eyebrow at Kaito's excuse, but he plays along. "Yeah, I really want it."

 _You're a damn shitty actor._

"Anyway," Kaito and Ryouga say simultaneously.

They glare at each other for a second, and Kaito decides to speak first.

"I'm gonna be on my break now." He motions for Ryouga to come along.

Ryouga frowns. "What."

"Come with me."

* * *

Once they can't see Yuuma and the shop anymore, Kaito speaks again.

"Look. I know what's up with your sister, you want to visit her in the hospital, so I'm showing you the way."

"How do you—"

"You're famous, idiot."

"...Asshole."

They walk for a while.

Then.

"Is Ragnafinity her favourite card?" Kaito doesn't look at Ryouga; he saves him the shame.

"Yeah. Her own got... burnt."

"And that's why you want to get the exact same one again? Isn't that—"

 _Isn't that the opposite of what she would want?_

"It's not too much! What do you know?!"

Kaito doesn't say what he originally wanted to say, instead he slowly shakes his head. "I know it all too well."

Ryouga doesn't ask why, but Kaito figures he will soon.

They enter Heartland Medical Center.

* * *

"Are you a regular here?" Ryouga raises an eyebrow. "The receptionist looked like he knew you."

"I told you, I know it all too well." They enter the elevator. Kaito sighs. "We'll meet up again 3:30."

"Wait. Who are you visiting?"

"It's none of your—"

"You know about my sister, so tell me."

Kaito knows Ryouga has a point, and normally he wouldn't care and just not tell Ryouga anyway; but Ryouga is gonna investigate and Kaito is better off choosing what to tell Ryouga himself.

 _Damn it._

"My brother."

Ryouga's eyes widen, he's silent now, and he nods as Kaito walks out.

* * *

"You look a bit better than last time you visited, nii-san. Did Chris move in with you again?"

"Chris never did that in the first pla—"

"He was sleeping over every day back then, that counts." Haruto smiles innocently, and Kaito kind of curses having been so open about his... relationship back then, because he didn't need this reminder.

"Well, yeah, maybe." Kaito tries to keep an emotionless face. Haruto's expression tells him that it doesn't work. "Anyway, no, Chris and I don't talk anymore."

"Yeah, because you broke up over a silly family matter."

"Wait, how do you know about—"

"Chris visited the day after he broke up with you." Haruto lets his legs dangle. "I figured I'd tell you when you've gotten over him, or when you tell me about it yourself. But you never did, so—"

"Sorry."

"I'm not angry, nii-san. Does that mean you have a new boyfriend now?" Suddenly, Haruto's eyes shine with excitement. "Is it Yuuma?"

"What?! No."

Haruto and Yuuma are good friends, but Yuuma and Kaito rarely ever visit Haruto together. It's because Kaito needs that family time for himself and Haruto, and Yuuma is surprisingly understanding— he values family very highly.

Kaito can't imagine himself in a relationship with Yuuma, though.

For that matter, he can't imagine himself in a relationship with anyone.

(Anymore.)

"Who is it, then?"

"I don't have a boyfriend."

Haruto smiles. "In any way, you seem less sad than usual, and I'm happy about it!"

For a lack of words, Kaito just returns the smile at him.

(Maybe sharing a bed with Ryouga did help a bit.)

* * *

When Kaito arrives at their meeting point, Ryouga is there already, and he looks relieved, but at the same time sad.

Kaito looks at the coffee in Ryouga's hands. "We're going."

 _I could use some caffeine, too._

Ryouga nods and gets up. They leave the hospital in silence.

When Kaito does look at Ryouga, he notices that Ryouga is in fact looking at him as well.

"What?" They both ask simultaneously.

Ryouga glares.

Kaito glares back. "Coffee."

Ryouga hands it to him. "Invite me next time."

"I'm letting you sleep at my house, you know."

"Tch."

* * *

Yuuma is already at the shop, waiting for them. "Kaito! How's Haruto?"

Kaito smiles the tiniest bit. "He's fine."

"Glad to hear that." Yuuma smiles.

Kaito can feel Ryouga staring at him, and he scowls.

Ryouga grimaces.

Kaito opens the store back up and lets the other two in. He checks the store's PC for mails, and there are the scheduled deliveries and Heartland's next announced visit that is likely gonna happen somewhen else anyway.

Kaito watches as the customers, both regular and new ones, pour in.

"Oi, Kaito." Ryouga gets behind the counter. "Do we actually do mini-tournaments here?"

"Depends on the demand."

"I want one."

"You can duel me at my house, too, you know."

Ryouga shakes his head. "Less fun."

* * *

The day passes by fast, and Kaito ends up having to promise he'll host a tournament this week because Yuuma and Ryouga keep nagging him about it, but it's actually fine.

It's comfortable.

It could go on like this.


	3. Chapter 3

The weeks pass by fast, faster than Kaito remembers them passing before, they do weekly tournaments and he duels Ryouga at home, but he constantly feels like he's forgotten something.

It's weird; how it has come to Ryouga sleeping at Kaito's house every night, not even out of necessity anymore, but mostly because they duel and Ryouga can't be bothered to buy a bed ('i'll get a sleeping bag', _yeah, sure_ , but then the convenience of Kaito's house and the routine came along), and Kaito keeps letting him sleep over, which, maybe not the best decision.

Kaito benefits though. In a way.

Good food, an opponent at any given time of the day, and not having to live alone.

Kaito never had a roommate, officially, but Yuuma and Chris kept sleeping over at his house, and then he got too used to it.

(But lately Yuuma's parents have noticed Yuuma putting off homework in favour of dueling, which is why sleepovers aren't allowed as often.)

So having Ryouga sleep over is. Comfortable.

(It should stay that way.)

* * *

It's another tuesday when they're on the way back to the shop and Ryouga speaks up, "Kaito."

"What?"

"Do you have any allergies?"

"Where's that question coming from?"

"You can't cook, I've been cooking for the last weeks, and I want to make hot pot this weekend, so I need to know what ingredients you can't eat. I don't want to have to call an ambulance."

Kaito wants to say that Ryouga can't afford alone anything anyway and that if it's gonna keep being this way, they might as well become roommates and profit equally from it, but Kaito feels like it might be his loneliness talking, so he says nothing.

So he says, "I can cook. I just don't do it. Anyway, I don't have allergies."

(Kaito can't cook.)

"Sure." Ryouga smirks.

* * *

When they reach the shop, Yuuma is waiting for them, as always, but he isn't alone today.

It's a familiar face, one where Kaito doesn't know how he should feel about it, but Ryouga speaks first anyway—

"III?!"

"Ryouga—"

"Here to mock me in IV's place? You—"

Kaito gets what's up, because this is IV they're talking about— there's no way Ryouga wouldn't be mad—, but this isn't Michael's fault and so it's Kaito's job to intervene.

Kaito's hand makes unpleasant contact with Ryouga's face. "What the fuck is wrong with you."

Ryouga glares at Kaito, not bothering to answer the rhetorical question.

"Michael," Kaito raises an eyebrow. "How come you are here again? Didn't your family leave the city?"

"They came back for the tag duel tournament!" Yuuma interrupts, cheerful as usual.

Yuuma and Michael were friends for a long time. Even after the Arclights moved out of town, Yuuma and Michael never stopped talking to each other.

 _But if Michael is here, that means—_

Kaito opens his mouth to speak, but he is interrupted by Michael.

"I told my brothers to not come here. They'd just cause trouble." He pauses for a bit, then. "I am surprised to see Ryouga here, though."

"You know precisely why I'm—" Ryouga grits his teeth when Kaito glares at him.

Yuuma snatches the keys from Kaito's hands and lets the other three in. He grins.

Kaito can almost see everyone's stress levels lowering.

* * *

"So your brothers are participating in the tournament?" Kaito raises an eyebrow as he watches Michael taking out a thermos bottle and giving tea to everyone. They're in the corner of the shop to not attract too much attention.

"Yeah. Apparently our father wants us to gain recognition in the dueling world."

"So, are you participating?" Yuuma sips a bit of tea.

"I don't have a partner, so probably not."

"I can team up with you!"

Ryouga glares at his tea like it's poison, so Kaito elbows him. "It's not Michael's fault that Thomas is a douche."

"Tch," Ryouga takes a sip after all. "So, how do you know them, Kaito?"

Michael smiles at the two of them, but he remains silent, and Kaito is glad that he does.

Yuuma, however, starts talking before Kaito can answer. "Didn't you tell him about yourself and Chris?"

Ryouga's eyes narrow. "Wait, then your ex is-"

"Yeah. Christopher Arclight. I know that was a bad decision, you don't need to tell me," Kaito hisses.

By 'bad decision', Kaito means having needed a person that much.

"You two used to be happy," Michael remarks quietly.

"Until—" Kaito bites his own lip, not wanting to start a fight with Michael of all people. Unlike his brothers, Michael has constantly avoided to do any wrong to anyone.

"Anyway. What happened between me and Chris is talk of the past, nothing relevant."

Michael and Yuuma give Kaito a sad look, because Kaito knows how obvious it is that he's still affected, but not affected in a 'not being over Chris' way, but more because he's lost friends due to their fathers' stupid argument.

He wonders how Yuuma managed to stay friends with Michael despite all of that.

"You've got shit taste," Ryouga remarks with a scowl, and he sips the tea angrily. "So, when do signups end?"

"In March, I think. Are you gonna join, Shark?" Yuuma almost knocks his cup of tea over in his excitement.

"I'm not sure yet."

Kaito's and Ryouga's gazes meet. Ryouga's head moves only slightly, and it looks like a nod.

 _Was that an invitation?_

"Anyway. Christopher says he'll be expecting you at the tournament, Kaito."

"What kind of bullshit—"

Kaito is interrupted by Ryouga's ringtone; Ryouga's ringtone that is the theme song of the first season of third Duel Monsters spinoff.

 _Oh. So that's what I'd forgotten._

Ryouga raises an eyebrow and takes the call. "Kamishiro Ryouga here, who am I spea— IV?! Where do you even have my number from? —Yeah, fuck you, I am participating, I'll make sure you'll end up in hell." He ends the call.

Yuuma gives Ryouga slightly shocked, but mostly sad look.

"Sorry about that," Michael mutters. "I told him to leave you alone and that I would do the talking—"

"It's fine," Ryouga hisses, but it's obvious that nothing is fine.

"He didn't mean to—"

"Didn't mean to hurt her so much that she ends up in a coma? You guys are the ones who set up this car 'accident', but your fucking influence is why none of you are in jail."

Kaito's eyes widen. "What?!" It's one thing for Chris to leave Kaito, it's another for Thomas to put someone in a coma.

But Kaito knows that Ryouga is right, because the Arclights could get away with anything, just like got away with holing himself up to try and develop a faster cure for Haruto's disease.

Michael abruptly gets up. "I shouldn't have come here."

"Why would he do that...?" Yuuma seems confused, but then he gets a hold of Michael's wrist. "Michael. Wanna come over to my place?"

"Eh? Now?"

"Yeah!" He grins, and for a moment he makes eye contact with Kaito, before looking at Michael again. "You haven't been at my place in forever. Dad found some new artifacts!"

Michaels eyes lighten up. "Really?"

Yuuma nods and grabs Michael by the hand. "We'll have to go then, see you tomorrow, Shark and Kaito~"

He awkwardly drags Michael out of the shop, and right before they walk out he adds, "I think the two of them need to talk about this, and we might make it worse."

Ryouga sighs and glares at the customers that have been looking at their corner from a distance, then he looks at Kaito. "He's a bad actor."

Kaito nods. "At least it's impossible to misunderstand him."

"So, how did it come to this?"

Kaito lowers his voice a little, "I'm not... exactly sure about the details. But the gist is that Dr. Faker and Byron Arclight had an argument, and then Byron left the city with his sons in order to take revenge? Or so."

"That sounds stupid already. What does that have to do with me and Rio, though?"

"Apparently the revenge involves gaining enough recognition and influence to make Faker's life a living hell, or so Chris said. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd assume they did that to your sister so you perform badly."

Ryouga clenches his fist. "And for something... for something like that, Rio..." He doesn't end his sentence, instead he just slams his fist on the table.

Kaito sighs, because he knows Ryouga will find out if he doesn't say it now and then he'll have to deal with unnecessary drama, so, "There's something else. Dr. Faker is my father."

Ryouga inhales sharply. "That explains why Chris is your ex."

"That happened one year ago. It doesn't matter now. I'm getting back to work, you can duel."

Kaito grits his teeth and gets up.

"Wait. Will you join the tournament?"

Kaito catches the hidden question immediately. "I'll think about it."

* * *

A few hours of Ryouga scowling even more than usual later, they're in the living room on the couch, eating caramel and chips.

"I can't believe you actually downloaded them in HD." Ryouga stares at Kaito's TV.

Kaito doesn't say that it's because sharing WiFi with Chris was hell, that he downloaded all episodes at night so he could watch them with Yuuma during the day, and that when he caught up and started watching weekly, he kept  
downloading them every sunday night.

"Of course," he says. He starts the episode. "It's gonna be a long night."

* * *

It's 3AM and Ryouga is tired and resting his head on Kaito's shoulder ever so slightly.

Kaito can't help but to notice how different Ryouga is when he's not dueling; how quiet he can be, how he spaces out a lot, much like Kaito himself does.

Abruptly, Ryouga sits up properly again. "About your dad."

"Huh?"

"Is he an actual doctor?"

Kaito bites his lip because, this is a bad question, but he then sighs. "Not a reliable one."

Kaito remembers asking to help paying the hospital bills, how insisted on his own treatment methods, and how Kaito ended up prioritizing Haruto anyway.

Ryouga has the decency to not ask.

"I see."

Kaito can tell that this was about Ryouga's sister, it's in his eyes, the hurt expression he also has whenever he's at the hospital-

"Wanna go sleep? It's late."

Ryouga nods.

* * *

At this point, Ryouga doesn't fuss anymore when they share a bed, but it is a surprise for Kaito when Ryouga scoots closer a little, just a little more than usual.

A bit later, Kaito takes out his phone, lowers the brightness and checks LINE, and to his surprise—

[hey kaito!]

A message from Yuuma, three minutes ago.

[Yeah?]

[oh wow you're awake too? that's rare]

[Yeah. I was watching Duel Monsters, since Shark has to catch up.]

[omg why didnt u invite me]

[Do you really wanna rewatch this /again/?  
We're at episode 14 right now.]

[it'd be my third rewatch only. i can bring duel rice, grandma won't mind making some =D]

Kaito considers telling him that Ryouga is gonna cook anyway, but instead, [Alright.]

[hey, kaito]

[Yeah?]

[you don't wanna make amends with chris do you]

 _So that's why he texted me._ Kaito sighs.

[Nope.]

 _Maybe one day, but not now._

[i see  
well then  
see you tomorrow at the shop?]

[Sure.]


	4. Chapter 4

So Yuuma decides to come over that weekend.

How Yuuma convinced Akari that it's okay despite their parents having told her to keep an eye on Yuuma, Kaito doesn't know, but it's good so he doesn't complain.

It's saturday afternoon and Ryouga doesn't know yet, because Yuuma insists it should be a surprise and I wanna see what Shark looks like in his pajamas and "Come on, it'll be fun".

Kaito doesn't mind, so he tells Ryouga they'll have to buy more ingredients for the hot pot if they want to have leftovers the next day, and little does Ryouga know about what's planned for him.

"So," Ryouga says as he shuffles his deck on his break. "About the tournament."

Kaito is at the counter, putting the booster packs in order. "Yeah?"

Ryouga points at the poster that advertises the tournament, visible for anyone who enters the shop. "The prize money is pretty high. And you haven't answered yet."

"Ah." Kaito looks at the poster.

That'd come in handy.

"The money for the runner-up is pretty good, too," Yuuma chimes in. "If you want it, it's definitely worth a shot."

"You're in for it for Number 93, aren't you?" Ryouga glances at Yuuma's extra deck, aware that Yuuma currently has an additional copy of Ray V to make up for the lack of Number 93.

Yuuma laughs. "Yeah, and to be the duel champion."

Certain Numbers being prize cards has always been a drag. Kaito remembers Mizael— a friend from online dueling— talking about a friend who couldn't get Number 105 for a long time because it took them three years to reprint the former prize card.

 _Haven't talked to Mizael in forever, either._

"Well, when we win, you can duel me for Number 93." Kaito smirks.

Yuuma's eyes brighten up. "So you're teaming up with Shark after all?"

Kaito nods, his gaze meets Ryouga's for a bit, and then he crosses his arms. "So, what about Michael?"

Yuuma sighs. "He, uh. Doesn't wanna come here, anymore. But we're participating together."

Kaito glares at Ryouga.

"Ah, no," Yuuma shakes his head fervently, "it's not Shark's fault. Apparently it's a family thing. Or so."

"So they haven't changed at all." Ryouga downs the rest of his energy drink.

Kaito can't deny it.

Suddenly, Yuuma reaches into his bag. "Oh, yeah, Shark."

"Hm?"

"Here." It's a tiny phone charm with the Duel Monsters logo on it, the same charm that Kaito and Yuuma himself have as well, and it makes Kaito smile because he usually doesn't think of it.

Yuuma'd bought a set of three, back then, four years ago.

 _So he kept the third charm?_

Ryouga looks at Kaito, looks almost shocked, but not in a bad way, and Kaito doesn't quite know why but Ryouga smiles now.

"You're doing unnecessary things again," Ryouga tells Yuuma, and he attaches the charm to his phone.

* * *

"So, uh. I'll be going then. See you in one— I mean, see you on Monday!" Yuuma nervously laughs and runs off, and Kaito knows he's getting the food from home.

Ryouga raises an eyebrow. "Is something wrong with him today?"

"Who knows." Kaito starts walking. "Come on, we need to buy groceries if you want to make hot pot."

* * *

Buying groceries turns out to be the worst decision ever, because no later than five minutes after they enter the store, Kaito spots long silver hair that can only belong to one person, and he grabs Ryouga's hand and heads to the sweets section.

"What in the—"

Kaito presses his finger on Ryouga's lips. "Chris, that's what."

Despite being pinned between the shelf and Kaito, Ryouga has the nerve to smirk. "Scared to be seen by him?"

"No."

 _I don't know why I'm hiding._

"Liar," Ryouga says coldly, and he looks at the sweets they're surrounded by. "Need anything? Pocky?"

Kaito's gaze follows Ryouga's, and he freezes when he sees Chris, holding a box of pocky and staring at the two of them.

"Oh, are you two acquainted?" Ryouga casually places an arm around Kaito's waist.

Chris shocked expression is replaced by his passive-aggressive 'stoic' face, and Kaito has to fight the urge to laugh because of how stupid he looks in that oddly formal outfit.  
"Yeah. We are." Chris walks past them. "You've moved on fast, Kaito."

Kaito doesn't speak or move until Chris is out of sight.

Ryouga lets go of Kaito. "You're awful. That explains the pocky at least."

"Shut up," Kaito hisses and picks up a bag of caramel.

Ryouga's attitude towards the entire thing easily feels worse than having met Chris in the first place, and Kaito can't hide that it does sting in an odd way.

It's like Ryouga can see through his bullshit, like Ryouga can tell exactly how Kaito feels.

 _Maybe it's just my imagination._

So they continue their grocery shopping.

Ryouga keeps handing Kaito ingredients for hot pot, and Kaito notices a surprisingly high amount of seafood.

"I didn't expect your shark-obsession to extend to food." Kaito smirks.

When he sees Ryouga's pout, he's satisfied.

* * *

"So," Kaito begins as they start putting the food in the fridge. "You—"

"I chose the ingredients based on what's in your fridge already, yeah. Except for the fish. I just like fish." Ryouga shrugs.

Kaito had figured that much already. "That's surprisingly considerate for someone like you."

"I used to cook for my sister. With my sister. Both, kind of. That taught me to be attentive."

Kaito nods because yeah, he kind of gets it. Except he's bad at cooking and Haruto is actually better at it.

(Was better at it, Kaito corrects himself. He's probably out of practice now. Or maybe he's still better?)

Ryouga snaps Kaito out of his thoughts with, "Oi, Kaito."

"Yeah?"

"After eating, let's—"

The doorbell rings.

"Oh, there he is." Kaito smirks.

"Wait, who—"

Kaito opens the door and is greeted by Yuuma who's carrying two plastic bags that are filled to the brim with food and energy drink.

"Grandma prepared more stuff than I'd thought," Yuuma explains, and he grins when he sees Ryouga behind Kaito. "You really do wear shark-themed pajamas!"

Ryouga abruptly turns around and goes to Kaito's room.

"I think he's changing clothes." Kaito takes one of Yuuma's bags and puts it in the kitchen. "Did you bring your deck?"

"Yup, I brought everything we need for an all-nighter!"

'Sleeping over' means 'all-nighter' in Yuuma's world.

(Not like Yuuma has ever managed to stay awake.)

* * *

So Yuuma gets to taste Ryouga's cooking for the first time.

Kaito would've commented on how much he's eating, but Ryouga treated the food Yuuma brought there equally, so he let it go.

Ryouga hasn't had homemade food that isn't his own in forever, has he?

"So, Shark cooks, and in return you let him stay here?" Yuuma grins and gets more of the food.

"Yeah."

"Is it because you can't cook?"

"What?"

"Remember when you tried to make boiled eggs and—"

"Let's not talk about that."

Ryouga looks up from his food and smirks. "Let's talk about that, Kaito. What was that about being able to cook?"

Caught, huh?

"Tch." Kaito tries some of Ryouga's hot pot and, it's amazing. He doesn't say so, though. He knows Ryouga can tell. "Speaking of which, Yuuma. Did Akari ask after that?"

"Oh, no. She believed me the karaoke thing. But she keeps asking why I don't put photos of it on social media."

"Karaoke?" Ryouga looks genuinely interested now, and Kaito vaguely recalls Ryouga having a guitar.

(A pretty embarrassing, shark-themed guitar.)

Yuuma steals a shrimp from Kaito's plate. "I'm not allowed to duel, so I told my sister I know Kaito from karaoke."

Ryouga raises an eyebrow and looks at Kaito, but Kaito just shrugs.

"Anyway, wanna watch?" Yuuma steals another shrimp, and Kaito wonders why he doesn't just take them from the pot. "We have to get Shark caught up so I don't accidentally spoil him."

Kaito remembers that time Yuuma spoiled the plot twist in episode 96 to Haruto because the hospital TV wasn't working but Yuuma wanted to talk about the show.

"—Yeah."

* * *

Three episodes in, Kaito catches Yuuma anxiously checking his phone for the fifth time that hour. "Akari doesn't know, does she?"

Yuuma rubs his neck. "No. Nee-chan is not at home though, and grandma is trying to cover up for me in case she comes back earlier."

"Oh."

Not like that's something unusual for Yuuma.

Meanwhile, Ryouga is tearing up at the rival's character arc, and Kaito could swear that he's seeing actual tears right there.

"Don't worry, Shark, he's gonna be fine," Yuuma says, and it's not a spoiler because this is Duel Monsters and when did things not turn out fine in Duel Monsters?

Ryouga looks away. "Hmph."

* * *

The night goes on and Ryouga becomes quite emotional for someone who calls himself a lone shark, and Yuuma gives them card-shaped ice cream and tells them that they should go watch the new movie together when it comes out.

Of course, they have tickets pre-ordered, even Ryouga, because he pre-ordered months ago already.

Yuuma and Ryouga are all absorbed in the show, leaving Kaito alone with his lingering thoughts.

 _Wonder how Chris is doing._

Kaito doesn't miss Chris, but it's a loose end in his life and he hates loose ends.

I'll wrap this up at the tournament.

Kaito leans back into the couch comfortably, pulling a blanket over his knees as he does.

It's nice and warm and the sky is clear and he can see it through the window.

Kaito closes his eyes.

 _Would be nice if it stayed like this._

* * *

When Kaito opens his eyes, Yuuma's head is in his lap and Ryouga's head is on his shoulder.

He stays in his position for a bit, listening a little before finally registering their snores.

 _So much for the all-nighter._

Not like anime evenings with Yuuma have ever been different.

So Kaito slowly slips out of their grasp and picks up Yuuma whose legs had been on the floor until then.

Ryouga falls over, face first, but he doesn't wake up.

 _This guy really isn't a morning person._

So Kaito carries Yuuma to his room, throws the blanket over him and checks the clock.

10:30 AM.

Too early to be awake on a sunday, too late to go back to sleep.

Kaito leaves his room, gets a blanket over Ryouga as well and turns off the TV.

 _I guess I can duel now._

He takes his laptop and goes to the balcony, opening Duel Monsters Online as he does.

In his kind of small contact list, only Mizael is online and he's in a duel already, so Kaito joins a random duel.

* * *

Kaito is in the middle of yet another duel when he hears his ringtone, and then Ryouga's voice.

"Hello? Yeah, I'll get Kaito for— wait, Mizael?!"

Kaito vaguely recalls Mizael's weird clique of duelists who use over-hundred Numbers as their aces, and decides to listen.

 _They probably have stuff to catch up on._

Kaito wants to continue dueling but the conversation is too interesting to not listen to, so he closes the program.

"What? Yeah, we're kind of living together. No, not like that— You're with Vector in the tournament? I hope he's ready for a beating. Yeah, I'm participating. Yeah. About Chris? I—"

Kaito abruptly gets up and opens the balcony door. "Hand me the phone."

Ryouga gives him a lopsided grin and does as told. "You're pretty lame, you know."

"Then what are you, Shark?" Kaito takes the phone and gets his laptop from the balcony. "Mizael?"

" _Yeah. I saw you online, so I figured I'd call. Nasch is living with you_?"

"Nasch? Oh, Ryouga. Yeah. He somehow couldn't be bothered to get a bed." Kaito vaguely recalls that Nasch was the self-proclaimed leader and also founder of Mizael's clique. "So, what was that in regards to Chris?"

" _I thought you were going to participate in the next tag tournament with him?_ "

"Yeah, we're not, like that, anymore, you know—" Kaito struggles to find the right words.

Ryouga speaks up loudly enough for the speakers to catch it, "They broke up."

Kaito scowls. "Yeah, that. Why were you asking, Mizael?"

" _Because Chris and IV announced that they were going to win the tournament. So I was wondering if I could avoid tagging with Vector, but it seems Nasch is your partner_."

Kaito has heard about Vector. Mizael likes to call him 'a competent asshole'. "Yeah."

 _"Alright. We'll see you at the tournament then. Tell Nasch that Alit recently moved to your city."_

Mizael hangs up.

"Did you hear it?" Kaito glances at Ryouga.

"Yeah."

"So. Nasch, huh?"

"...Yeah." Ryouga sighs, opens his mouth and closes it again.

"I see."

"Where's Yuuma?"

"In my room." Kaito yawns, crosses his arms and leans against the wall.

"Oh. Did you—"

"When I woke up, you two were asleep."

"Oh."

"Are we gonna keep watching after he wakes up?"

"Yeah."

Ryouga gets out his phone and starts walking in the direction of the kitchen. "I need coffee, so— wait, check your facebook first."

Kaito barely ever checks facebook, but when he does, it's full of notifications from Yuuma every time.

"What is it?" Kaito looks over his shoulder. "Oh god."

It's a photo of Ryouga sleeping with his head against Kaito's shoulder. From last night. Ryouga is drooling a bit, and Kaito's mouth is open.

Kaito takes a moment to find words. "Did Yuuma—"

"Yeah, he tagged us, too."

"—I need coffee."


	5. Chapter 5

A few days have passed and they're in the card shop as always, and Yuuma has hot chocolate and Kaito can easily guess who he picked that up from.

(And Kaito is also a bit envious, because his throat feels sore and hot chocolate would be nice.)

Kaito coughs. "Did you visit Haruto recently?"

"Yeah! I keep having to buy new caramel." Yuuma grins, then yawns. "Are you sick, Kaito?"

Kaito shakes his head, maybe a bit too fervently. "No."

Ryouga raises an eyebrow, opens his mouth and gets elbowed by Kaito.

Yuuma laughs. "So who's Vector?"

Ryouga chokes on his energy drink, coughs, gets a slap on the back from Kaito, and quietly speaks, "How do you know him?"

Yuuma hands him his phone, it shows his facebook post with the photo from last weekend. And its comment section.

Kaito leans over so he can see it, too.

 **[Vector S., Alit B. and 3.273 others liked this post.]**

 **[Alit B.]**  
i didn't know you're friends with nasch, yuuma x)  
who's the other guy in the picture?

 **[Yuuma T.]**  
ALIT!  
you're friends with shark, too? you should come over sometime!

 **[Vector S.]**  
wow, nasch has a boyfriend! durbe check this out  
he seems just fine without us, doesn't he?

 **[Durbe T.]**  
...

 **[Mizael R.]**  
Vector.

 **[Vector S.]**  
miza-chan~

(It keeps going like that.)

"Tch." Ryouga scowls.

"So why didn't you guys tell me?"

Kaito empties his third glass of water for that morning. "Tell what?"

Yuuma rubs his neck. "The boyfriend thing—"

Ryouga crosses his arms. "Don't take anything Vector says seriously. He's just screwing with Durbe."

 _Oh._

Kaito deems it smarter to remain silent. (And his voice sounds like hell anyway.)

"Then who's Durbe?" Yuuma is looking at Ryouga, all curious.

Ryouga sighs. "How did you even find my facebook?"

"I googled 'Kamishiro Ryouga' and found your fanclub."

"Oh." Ryouga takes out his deck. "—Anyway, let's duel."

"Speaking of which, Alit asked if you guys want to come along to the bar he's working in next week..."

Ryouga and Kaito end up agreeing to come along, if only because the idea of leaving Yuuma in a bar alone bothers both of them.

(Ryouga gave Kaito a weird look then, almost like he doubted that Kaito would actually come along.)

A few duels later, Ryouga speaks up again. "But how do you know Alit and why is Vector on your friend list?"

"Ah, me and Alit have a..." Yuuma rubs the back of his neck. "dueling history. And other stuff."

Kaito raises an eyebrow because it's rare for Yuuma to dodge questions. "Other—" He coughs. "—stuff?"

Yuuma sighs. "He had a crush on me and I didn't notice until like half a year later."

Kaito feels like laughing, and he can tell Ryouga does, too.

"Hey, that's not funny! Anyway, Alit took it well and now we're good friends. And Vector... well, he added me. He seems ni—"

"He's an asshole." Ryouga interrupts.

"Mizael said that, too," Kaito confirms, and from the facebook posts he saw, he can agree.

(Better not let Yuuma near people like that.)

"He's nice to me," Yuuma says, and they don't bother arguing against it.

* * *

"So, Kaito." Ryouga leans against the counter, arms crossed. It's afternoon already and not much is going on, most people are too busy with their tournament matches anyway.

"Yeah?"

"You're sick."

"I'm not." Kaito coughs, disproving his point.

"You don't concentrate during any duels and I highly doubt you're still lovesick over Chris."

Kaito scowls. "Your point being?"

"Go home. If you stay here, you'll just get all of us sick, and I need the job." Ryouga smirks. "Isn't that what you said?"

(Ryouga has a point, because if both of them get sick at the same time, then they have to call Mr. Heartland, and that'd be... bad, to say the least.)

From the other table, Yuuma nods. "I can help out while you're resting!"

It wouldn't be the first time Yuuma helps Kaito out. It would be the first time Kaito is sick ever since he has this job.

"I'm not sick."

Without another word, Ryouga feels Kaito's temperature.

Kaito has to concentrate hard to not just close his eyes because Ryouga's cold hands certainly help with the headache he's been having for a while now.

"Yep, you're definitely sick." Ryouga sighs and takes his hands away. "Give me the keys."

"The _what_?" Kaito scowls at the lack of the cold.

"The keys. "

"I'm not going."

"Haruto won't be happy if you go to work while you're sick."

 _Fuck._

Kaito fumbles in his pockets for the shop keys, drops them and picks them back up, just to drop them in Ryouga's hands. "That was low."

"Whatever."

* * *

Kaito leaves the shop, just to see Christopher Arclight, looking at him for two full seconds before swiftly walking into the other direction.

"Wow," says Kaito. "emSubtle/em."

So Kaito goes home without any other encounters and lets himself fall onto the bed.

* * *

Kaito opens his eyes to see Ryouga next to him, chatting on LINE and looking slightly stressed.

Despite the sleep, Kaito feels like shit and the headache isn't gone (because he neglected to take painkillers before sleeping), so he opens his mouth to say something, just to start coughing.

Ryouga turns to look at him and sighs. "Are you telling me that you didn't take any meds?"

"I forgot," Kaito chokes out between coughs and turns away from Ryouga, getting up abruptly.

The headache gets worse, and Kaito sits down again.

"A mess." Ryouga types something and then pockets his phone again. "Any preference on what's gonna be in your soup?"

"Just make instant r—"

"You only have spicy instant ramen. That'd just make it worse."

Kaito's sore throat agrees. "—I don't care what's in it."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Kaito and Ryouga are in the bed under plenty of blankets, with only their heads, their hands and their bowls of soup visible.

(As it turns out, Kaito's temperature is too high, so he had to swallow a bunch of pills.)

"So why are you eating soup, too, now?" Kaito asks between sips.

Ryouga shrugs, spills soup over his shirt, curses and goes, "Do I look like I'm in the mood to cook more than one thing?"

"Not anymore now, that's for sure." Kaito is still surprised Ryouga is this caring in the first place.

Upon second thought, Kaito doesn't need to ask why.

He'd do the same for Ryouga.

It's kind of a habit when you've lived alone a younger sibling, you get used to taking responsibility when anyone gets sick.

(And maybe both of them care, just a bit.)

Ryouga fixes up his shirt. "Don't stare."

"I'm not staring."

(Kaito stops staring.)

"Let's watch Duel Monsters?" Ryouga gestures at Kaito's laptop that's on the nightstand.

"What was that about putting me to bed so you don't get sick?"

"Whatever. We share a bed anyway."

Ryouga has a point, and odds are he caught Kaito's sickness already, anyway.

So, Duel Monsters it is.

* * *

"You. Uh."

Ryouga has been looking annoyed for a while now, but he hasn't said a thing.

Kaito turns his head slightly— unnecessarily so, as their heads were touching already— turns it back, and asks, "Still pissed because of Thomas?"

Unlikely, since to his knowledge, Thomas hasn't called after that incident, but who knows.

(Kaito would understand, because the Chris thing is still bothering him sometimes.)

"No. I mean, yes, but I always am."

Kaito decides to nod in response to that, unwilling to strain his voice more.

The next episode starts, and Kaito hits the pause button.

He wants to get this out of the way.

(He totally doesn't worry. It's just that the following three episodes are that good.)

That's definitely the reason. Right.

—Well, part of it.)

He clears his throat in an attempt to not sound pathetic, "Spit it out."

Ryouga doesn't speak very loudly, and if Kaito didn't know better, he'd just think it's a growl.

"Eh?" Kaito raises an eyebrow.

"Your ex thing."

 _Oh._

"What about it?"

"You're letting me stay here and you're not asking for any compensation. There has to be a catch, you're not a selfless person."

(That depends on the context, Kaito wants to say, but in this context Ryouga is right, so he doesn't.)

Kaito doesn't see the connection to Chris, though.

"You're cooking for me. Besides, if something happened to you, I'd—" Kaito coughs, and the timing sucks incredibly since it causes Ryouga to smirk. "—I'd have more work. So I have to make sure you're not doing anything stupid. What does that have to do with Chris though?"

"Didn't wanna risk getting into drama in case you were looking for a rebound."

"Oh. No. I'm not that type of person."

(It's a type of disrespect Kaito would rather not treat another person with.)

Ryouga eyes him for a bit longer, almost as if studying his expression for hints of insincerity, and then he stretches himself. "Well, then that's out of the way. The emphasis you put on the whole cooking thing, though... it's that important?"

"It's not bad."

What Kaito doesn't say is that it makes him feel at home, feel warm, feel less lonely and like there's something he can look forward to after work.

(Having Yuuma around is one thing, but the evening hours of contemplating Haruto's condition and hating that things are this way are nothing Kaito can deal healthily with on the long term.)

"I see." Ryouga smirks and hits the play button again before Kaito can speak up again.

* * *

While watching, Kaito gets tired every now and then, but Ryouga's surprisingly strong reactions to the show (going from 'What the hell was that misplay' to 'that bastard') keep him awake.

(Occasionally, Kaito tweets quotes to Yuuma, because Yuuma wouldn't wanna miss Ryouga's reaction.)

"You're totally gonna get sick," Kaito remarks after he coughs for the upteenth time.

"Hope you payed attention while I cooked."

 _Fuck._

(The answer, obviously, is no.)

Ryouga smirks, aware of the answer.

"—Duel?" Lying in bed all day isn't like Kaito.

Fever or not, dueling should be possible.

* * *

It turns out Kaito is worse at dueling when he's sick.

(Sick and also distracted.)

"You're not concentrating." Ryouga takes a piece of caramel. "You've seen this play a thousand times and I know you had something face-down."

Kaito nods, but draws anyway.

A pause.

"Ryouga."

"Hm?"

"Are you gonna move in?"

"Didn't I already?"

 _Well, yeah, you did._

"Yeah, but the bills. Not like you're ever in your own apartment, anyway."

Ryouga shrugs. "You got a point."

(Mizael had said that moving in with friends isn't so bad.

Kaito figures he was right.)

"Then that's settled."

Not like much is gonna change, anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day when Kaito wakes up, it's because it's cold.

Not actually cold, but colder than with Ryouga on top of him, obviously.

(Ryouga probably left like half an hour ago.)

He sighs, downs some meds, pulls the pillow closer and falls asleep again.

When Kaito opens his eyes again, he feels a lot better.

He rolls over, coughs, checks his temperature. Could be better, but at least it's not horrible anymore.

He checks the clock.

About time to visit Haruto.

He gets up. His phone is blinking.

[LINE | one new message from Ryouga | 16 minutes ago]

 _Really?_

Kaito sighs and opens it.

[dont even think about going to the hospital, just sayin]  
[haruto would just catch your germs.]  
[im making udon today btw]

Kaito scowls, but the udon is a thing to look forward to.

Of course, he could ignore what Ryouga says, but causing Haruto to have a fever seems like a really bad idea, so he doesn't.

Thirty minutes into lying in bed, Kaito gets his laptop out and challenges Mizael to a duel— what does Mizael even do? High school?— and gets accepted.

Mizael doesn't ask why he's not at work, because Mizael is mostly about dueling and so is Kaito.

The fun is short-lived though as two duels in, Mizael leaves ('Class is starting.') and Kaito is back to boredom and coughing and wondering how Haruto is doing.

(Kaito never realized how annoying being unproductive can be when you're alone.)

So he walks around the house, picks up clothes that Ryouga failed to pick up— because Ryouga can't do any chores that aren't cooking— puts them in the laundry and stares at his phone.

3:50 PM.

 _Fresh air, then._

He grabs a jacket— it's Ryouga's, but they wear the same size and what does it matter?— and sits down outside on the balcony.

Spots Christopher Arclight.

(Again.)

Kaito doesn't know if it's the fever or the fact that he hasn't thought about Chris as of recently, but he doesn't feel the need to go away, so he sits down anyway. "Will you stop stalking me anytime soon?"

Kaito smirks when he sees Chris' expression go from horror to trying to keep a straight face to looking at Kaito's hands which are still holding Kaito's phone.

"It's for family business."

"You'd think your dad would be smart enough to send Michael if that was the case."

Chris doesn't reply.

Then.

"I didn't know you liked purple."

"I didn't, either."

 _Not until recently, anyway,_ Kaito adds in his thoughts.

(Kaito is aware that he might just have gotten used to seeing purple everywhere.)

From Chris expression, Kaito can tell that it hurt even without him saying it. He doesn't particularly feel in any way about that.

Because Kaito didn't do it to piss Chris off.

He coughs. "So, what do you still want here? Michael isn't in the shop, if that's what it's about."

"Then where is he?" Chris bites his lip nervously, and Kaito can tell something is up, because Chris usually doesn't let it show that much.

"Did he run away?" Kaito wouldn't be surprised. Yuuma did mention that Michael had been crashing at his place a lot lately.

Chris nods only slightly.

Kaito goes on, "He's fine. He's probably just sick of what you guys are doing. He'll come back if you wait." Because Kaito is a lot of things, maybe even slightly bitter still, but he isn't cruel.

"You won't tell me where he is?"

"So you can pester him into helping out with that childish revenge? No."

Chris scowls. Kaito doesn't care.

 _If you care about your brother, you'll leave it at that._  
Kaito's phone vibrates.

[LINE | one new message from Ryouga | less than one minute ago]

Kaito gasps, because it's a photo, and not just any photo— it's Haruto, grinning and sitting on the edge of a hospital bed belonging to a person who Kaito can only assume is Ryouga's twin sister.

Another message arrives right after.

[he's fine, stop worrying]

Kaito feels himself smiling.

He texts back, [Good.]

(Kaito and saying 'thanks' doesn't work well together.)

[he said you have to take your meds if he has to take his, too]

[Already took them.]

Kaito looks up from his phone, just to see Chris turning around and going his own way.

It doesn't really matter, because Chris came here for stalking or getting Michael or whatever anyway, Kaito figures.

And since Chris didn't ask any more about Michael's whereabouts, maybe he's learnt a thing, who knows.

 _This will resolve itself on its own eventually._

Kaito looks back at his phone.

[i also finally got around to buying the c103]

[Nice.]

[anyway i w]

A few seconds of silence, then a slightly blurry picture of Ryouga, apparently reaching for the phone.

His expression is priceless.

Kaito laughs, because it's not the first time Haruto takes someone's phone away.

[Nii-san, send us a photo, too (･ω

Kaito sighs, angles his phone so this looks at least somewhat presentable, takes a photo, hits send. (He must look awful with that reddish nose and the bed hair, but it's not like it matters with those two.)

With a bit delay,

[purple looks weird on you] [(i got my phone back)] [haruto says you should go back to bed]

[Anyway, I'm gonna print out the form now.]

[ah because im moving in?]

[Yeah.]

[alright. okay i g2g now, shop & all]

[If it's too crowded, I can come and help out.] Kaito is bored to death.

[you can stay and watch the house]

[What?]

[you heard me]

 _Asshole._

So Kaito goes and prints out the form, stares at Ryouga's embarrassing bass guitar, tries to do something about the endless boredom that comes from lack of productivity and interaction.

(He settles for doing some card orders for the shop online, since Ryouga is guaranteed to forget.)

Kaito is in the kitchen and making tea when Ryouga comes home an hour early.

"Are you a workaholic or something?"

"What?"

"You did all the orders for the new boosters and structure decks."

"You'd just forget."

Ryouga scowls in response and proceeds to start preparing the udon.

Kaito smirks.

(Kaito hasn't eaten yet. The way Ryouga looks at him makes it obvious that he knows.)

There's a bit of silence in which it's just the sound of the dishes, the boiling water and Ryouga idly humming, then. "Haruto has been visiting her."

"Your sister?" Kaito had mentioned Ryouga at some point during the last weeks, that's for sure, but he's surprised Haruto actually knew about his sister.

"Yeah. He overheard the nurses saying her recovery is going as expected."

Kaito hears relief in Ryouga's voice. "I see."

They move to the living room to eat, Kaito downs some more meds under Ryouga's supervision ('I promised Haruto to make sure you take them') and they continue where they left off with Duel Monsters.

Ryouga yawns. "By the way. Did you actually finish high school?"

Kaito figures Haruto might've talked a lot, and he shrugs. "Yeah. I just finished early since I was homeschooled. But right after I came here, so."

"No uni for you then?"

"Nah. This is pretty good, too, anyway." 'This' can mean a lot of things. Kaito holds the bowl and appreciates the warmth. "What about you?" With how this conversation is going and how Ryouga is behaving, Kaito doubts the accuracy of the database.

"Dropped out."

"Ah. Just stopped going?"

"Yeah, didn't have the nerve for the documents."

Kaito chooses to not ask about any possibly existing legal guardians or parents. "Mr. Heartland always needs people, so."

Ryouga nods, the corner of his mouth turning up ever so slightly.

As time goes on and they finish their food, Ryouga changes his position and pulls his feet up on the couch, grabs a blanket and puts it over his knees.

Kaito pulls a bit on the blanket; Ryouga scowls and motions for him to move closer.

So Kaito mimics Ryouga's position, scoots closer and gets his share of the blanket.

(This is what happens if communication is not your forte.)

For a bit, Kaito looks at Ryouga's hands- a habit from dueling. Then. "You're missing one ring."

"I gave Rio the other. Told myself I'd give it back to her once I have Number C103."

"I see."

And Kaito doesn't really mind Ryouga idly dropping his head on Kaito's shoulder, outside of—

"Still too spiky."

"Stop complaining."

Kaito ruffles through Ryouga's hair and smirks. "Better."

"Tch."

It's when they go to bed that evening that Kaito notices for the first time— actively, anyway— that a lot has changed.

Maybe it's the familiarity, but Ryouga is more talkative than before, doesn't turn away when either of them undresses anymore, and maybe Kaito should stop staring at Ryouga before—

"What?" Ryouga raises an eyebrow, and the situation is kind of weird because Kaito has been idly staring at Ryouga's collarbone and Ryouga has just stopped undressing mid-motion.

Kaito opens his mouth to say something witty, but there's nothing, so he closes it again.

Then Ryouga smirks. "Are you sure you aren't hitting on me?"

"I could ask you the same."

That retort seemed to work, because Ryouga scowls and goes back to changing into his shark-themed pajamas.

 _Still embarrassing._


	7. Chapter 7

Two days later, on the unholy day that is also the day on which they go to the club, Kaito feels better. Better as in _I'll go back to work because fuck, this was boring_.

So he moves Ryouga's body off of his own and walks to the bathroom, checks his phone on the way and—

[LINE | one message from Mizael | 5 hours ago]

[Can you tell Nasch that Vector is going to the club, too? I figured I should warn him, but I don't have his number.  
I'm there, too. Alit made me promise to come.]

Kaito raises an eyebrow and texts back, [Sure, I'll tell him. See you later then.]

"That little shit." Ryouga is looking over Kaito's shoulder at the screen.

"You're awake?"

"Guess whose fault that is."

"Yours, for sleeping on me."

Ryouga scowls and gets his toothbrush, then. "You're gonna go to work?"

"Yeah."

And maybe Kaito has missed work too much.

* * *

The workday starts uneventful; Yuuma isn't there and Ryouga is oddly silent.

He's not even trash talking. Ryouga is just being a brooding loner and Kaito is the definitely not the right person to complain about that, but it's annoying, so,

"What's wrong," Kaito doesn't raise his voice for the question but Ryouga picks it up as one anyway.

"None of your business."

Kaito shrugs and goes about his business.

It takes a few minutes— it always does—, but then—

"The club." Ryouga fiddles with his necklace.

"Are you really that antisocial?"

"Shut up. Not like you're any different."

Kaito hands Ryouga an energy drink. "So?"

Ryouga bites his lip, then goes, "I left without a word."

"Regrets?"

"I thought I wouldn't see them again."

"Suck it up. It's been less than half a year."

"Durbe is there, too. He texted me today. I know he will ask questions."

"So answer them."

"'I didn't want you involved despite us being childhood friends'?"

"Yeah."

"Listen, it's not that easy—"

"I'm there, too." Kaito takes a sip from his own glass of energy drink. "It's not like you'll get interrogated for the entire night."

Ryouga crosses his arms.

"Anyway. Did IV call you again after that time?"

"I blocked his number."

"Smart choice."

Kaito is positively surprised that Chris hasn't attempted to call yet.

* * *

So maybe Kaito is very used to living with Ryouga.

Maybe Kaito is so used to seeing Ryouga either in work clothes, hoodies or naked that he downright forgot that Ryouga is and can be very attractive.

(Maybe Kaito has deliberately ignored it.)

"You're staring."

Ryouga's clothing choice for a night out is, quite a thing; with the black jeans, the dark red shirt and the actual accessories and—

"There's no way you chose these clothes by yourself." Kaito raises an eyebrow. "You're usually the type of person who wears two clashing shades of purple and thinks it looks good."

"Fuck you." Ryouga scowls, sighs, then. "Mizael made me buy them and he's probably gonna kill me if I don't wear them."

"Mizael did?"

"For Rio's birthday."

"Oh." Kaito hadn't intended to accidentally make Ryouga think about her, so he moves to the shoes drawer and—

Ryouga chuckles. "Kaito, the guy who goes to a club wearing a hoodie."

"Why not?" Until now, Kaito had been under the impression that Ryouga was just as lacking of a social life as he was. Aside from the whole Barian thing.

"It's several degrees warmer inside a club?"

That's news to Kaito. "Then what do _you_ suggest, smart guy?"

Ryouga gets up, shaking his head and frowning dramatically as he does, and Kaito wants to punch his face but if Ryouga is gonna have a helpful suggestion, he isn't gonna reject it.

(Kaito's plan for the evening is to sit in the corner with some juice while making sure no one does inappropriate things to Yuuma.)

"You're hopeless. Why is your entire wardrobe jeans, tights and hoodies?" Ryouga doesn't look at Kaito, instead he looks through their shared unorganized drawer. Then he pulls out Kaito's lone pair of skinny jeans and a violet, sleeveless shirt that Kaito definitely does not recognize.

"What's that shirt?"

"We have the same size, stop complaining and get dressed."

"If anyone asks what the hell I'm wearing, you're explaining it."

* * *

"So? Is Kamishiro 'Don't get involved with me' Ryouga secretly a party animal?" Kaito still took a jacket along because it's cold as hell, and he can tell Ryouga regrets only taking his thin purple one from the way he shivers next to Kaito as they walk to the subway station.

"Tch, as if." Ryouga buries his hands in his pockets. "It's just that Alit has been doing this club thing for quite a while now. Had to get used to it."

"I see."

"Shark, Kaito!" Yuuma is there, waving as always.

From behind Yuuma, Michael steps next to him. "Hello. I'm coming along, too."

Kaito raises an eyebrow. "You?"

Michael Arclight seems like the wrong person for a club.

"Y—Yeah." Michael looks at the ground, looks at Yuuma, looks back at Kaito and then at the incoming train.

"I'm surprised Kaito is wearing Shark's clothes again."

Kaito begins, "How do you know I'm wearing—"

"—Purple." Ryouga rolls his eyes.

"So— Nii-sama visited, didn't he? He texted me earlier." Michael looks at Kaito with a look of guilt.

"He's a stalker, I'm used to it."

Ryouga raises an eyebrow. "Chris?"

"Yeah. It happened when I was sick."

"Oh. Hope he liked your jacket." Ryouga smirks.

Kaito didn't know Ryouga could be that spiteful.

"Just as much as he liked the last time he saw you."

Ryouga's smirk widens. "Speaking of stalkers— Michael. What's the shithead doing?"

"You mean IV-nii-sama, right?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know. Before I left, he had arguments with our father, and he's also been going to pay visits at Heartland Medical Center—"

"The hospital?!" Ryouga looks upset, and Kaito can understand that. "Why?"

"He doesn't wanna tell me who he's visiting."

Kaito can tell that Michael is lying.

* * *

Three stations before they have to get out, Mizael and a guy with orange hair enter the train.

"Oh look, if it isn't Nasch and his boyfriend~"

"Shut it, bastard," Ryouga hisses immediately, and from the descriptions Kaito can tell that the guy has to be Vector.

"Is that the right way to greet an old friend after you left us all without a word?" Vector wipes a non-existent tear. "Durbe's been sulking all those months. He even asked me to bring your motorcycle back to you."

"Not that you actually would."

The next three stations feel like an eternity, with Ryouga getting increasingly pissed off by Vector's antics and his attempts to hit on both Yuuma (who is as oblivious as human beings can get, thankfully), and Kaito can't help but to wonder how Mizael was able and willing to be friends with him for months.

* * *

When they arrive at the club, they are greeted by a grey-haired guy with glasses—

"Durbe."

"Nasch." Then, with a bit of delay. "Tenjou Kaito."

 _Wow, serious._

Kaito tilts his head. "What."

"Nothing." Durbe sighs. "Let's go in, Gilag and Alit are waiting already."

* * *

Gilag and Alit, as it turns out, are exactly the type of company Kaito is willing to leave Yuuma alone with.

 _Outgoing, but not absolute trainwrecks like Vector._

"Don't give him anything other than milkshake," Ryouga mutters, and Alit nods, laughing.

Yuuma pouts, but he doesn't object, and now it's just the remaining Barians and Kaito.

"So, Nasch. What have you been up to? Also, what about Merag?" Vector grins.

"Can't you go pine after Yuuma or something?"

"Vector has a point, though." Durbe looks at Ryouga expectantly. "Where have you been?"

(Maybe Kaito was wrong about Ryouga not getting interrogated.)

Ryouga clearly looks uncomfortable, and Kaito's body reacts before his brain does because he gets up, drags Ryouga by the wrist and, "Come."

"What are you even—"

"I like that song."

Bullshit, Kaito doesn't even listen to pop.

But it's crowded and they move out of sight before the others can say or do anything.

"What was that about?"

"You don't seem up for answering questions."

"Of course I'm not." Ryouga sighs. "I'll probably have to text Durbe an explanation after this."

Kaito doesn't need to tell Ryouga that he's just postponing the issue; that's obvious. "Got a history?"

"Not the kind you're thinking of." Ryouga sort of moves along with the music a bit, if only to not stand out like a sore thumb. "He's very protective of the group. Me leaving must've broken it apart."

"I see."

"So, when will you let go of my hand?"

"Oh." Kaito is glad it's dark right now because he can feel his face changing color, and he lets go.

Ryouga raises an eyebrow. "You can't dance, right."

"Never tried." So Kaito tries, a bit, and it's too dark to see properly, but he thinks Ryouga is smiling— smirking?— or something like that.

Not far from them, Alit and Yuuma are dancing.

"Oi, Alit!" Ryouga shouts over the crowd and wow, sometimes he's really embarrassing.

"Yeah?"

"Get me my usual order, twice." Ryouga points at Kaito when he says that.

"Sure. Just get that table in the corner so it's not as hard to find you." Alit winks, Ryouga rolls his eyes and Yuuma waves.

So Ryouga grabs Kaito by the hand and leads him to the table. They block the entire couch, but it's not like many people aren't dancing right now.

(They are getting weird looks, and Kaito hopes the pop songs end soon because they're giving him headaches.)

"So... are we gonna just sit here and wait it out over some drinks?" Kaito raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Ryouga unceremoniously drops two deck boxes on the table, one of which is Kaito's. "You forgot that."

"My deck? Are you really going to—"

"The wifi here is shit and I'm not in the mood for Vector's crap."

"You really hate him, don't you?"

Ryouga nods. "He's still one of the Barians though."

* * *

One duel in, Alit arrives with what apparently is Ryouga's order. "Might be a bit sweeter than usual."

"Thanks." As Alit leaves again, Ryouga pushes the 2nd glass in Kaito's direction.

Kaito stares at it sceptically. "Even your drinks are purple."

"You can't complain, you're wearing purple right now."

"Yeah, remember whose fault that is." Kaito takes a sip, then, "That's alcohol."

And also a bunch of fruits that Kaito can't quite identify.

—Maybe Kaito shouldn't have let Ryouga order for him, because the last time Kaito had something more alcoholic than beer was when Chris left and Kaito is taken off-guard by the warm feeling at the back of his throat now.

Whatever, it tastes good and Yuuma is taken care of already.

"Well, duh." Ryouga plays his turn to its end, "How else are we supposed to survive this?"

Kaito shrugs. "How long does Alit usually work?"

"'Til morning, but we'll leave when Yuuma gets tired."

* * *

They're on their third drink and maybe it's the alcohol, but Kaito feels like Ryouga is making more eye contact than usual.

(Maybe Kaito is making more eye contact than usual.)

"It's your turn," Ryouga reminds him, surprisingly late.

Kaito isn't willing to do a summon chant in a club, but he does summon 62 to win the game for him. By 100 LP, anyway. "Should've made Abyss Dweller instead of 37."

"Should've." Ryouga sighs, scoots over a bit in Kaito's direction. "We're postponing the rematch 'til tomorrow."

"Not like that's anything new."

And as Ryouga sits next to him and eyes the crowd— as if he was possibly able to spot Vector and Durbe in it— Kaito feels like he should say something.

"Ryouga."

"What."

"Isn't it easier to just tell them?"

Ryouga scowls. "You wouldn't tell them if you were me, either."

And Ryouga has a point because yeah, Kaito wouldn't want to, either, but—

"Yeah, but you wouldn't have to deal with my moping afterwards."

"What?!"

"You heard me. Besides, you're just being a coward as it is."

"You damn—" Ryouga gets a hold of Kaito's wrists and the next thing Kaito knows is he's lying on his back on the couch with Ryouga on top of him and their noses almost touching.

Ryouga smirks. "Not so condescending now, are you?"

Kaito holds the eye contact. "Quite forward today, aren't you?"

Ryouga's smirk twists into a scowl.

Kaito goes on, smirking, "Would you mind getting off of me? Because—"

His words are cut off by Ryouga's lips crashing onto his.

(Crashing, because, Ryouga is not gentle.)

And Ryouga's fingers are tangled in Kaito's hair, and the rational part of Kaito that would usually remind him to prevent this situation seems to not function at all—

Kaito pulls Ryouga closer, and Ryouga's damn teeth are tugging at his lip—

(All the 'sinking his teeth into people' threats Ryouga made suddenly make sense. They also become infinitely more embarrassing.)

—and he interrupts the kiss to say, " _Really?_ "

"Less talking." Ryouga leans back in, and this time it's less teeth and more tongue and wow he's clumsy, but at this level of intoxication Kaito couldn't care less, so he goes along with it—

(temporarily ignores that this is a bad idea and might make everything awkward)

\- and lets himself enjoy the way Ryouga traces his collarbone; the intimacy that he must have missed in some way. Pushes Ryouga's jacket off his shoulders so he can return the favors.

His body remembers the motions, and he runs his fingers through Ryouga's hair; muttering his name into the kiss

(Kaito doesn't know if Ryouga hears it, but he doesn't care either.)

Ryouga's hands wander, and Kaito can feel them cold against his stomach, under his shirt—

"Wow, Nasch, we didn't want a show, you know." Vector interrupts— loudly so— before Kaito can get too lost in the sensation.

Kaito and Ryouga break apart, and Kaito notices Ryouga's flushed cheeks and if Vector wasn't here, he'd comment on it.

Ryouga doesn't move, instead just turns to look at Vector. "No one asked you to watch."

"Should I have taken Yuuma home because you two were too busy swapping spit?" Vector points in the general direction of the exit. "He's waiting."

"He totally told you to get us for him." Ryouga rolls his eyes.

"Obviously. If it was for me, I'd have leaked photos on facebook and gone home."

Kaito looks at Ryouga for a bit, then. "We'll talk about this—"

"Later." Ryouga awkwardly climbs down so Kaito can get up; he fixes his jacket, fixes his hair— badly so, but whatever.

"Yeah."

* * *

Yuuma laughs when he sees them. "Did you guys dance?"

Kaito is about to shake his head, but Ryouga is faster, "Yeah. We had a dance-off. I won."

"In your dreams." Kaito plays along.

Vector is grinning and Kaito can tell that hiding what happened won't be as easy as he'd thought, and he can only pray that Vector didn't take—

"Hey, Yuuma-kun. I sent you a message on LINE."

 _Fuck._

"Let's go to the train first," Kaito suggests hastily. "Where are Mizael and Durbe?"

"They went home already," Yuuma provides helpfully. "Durbe is sleeping over at Vector's and Mizael's place. But before we go, we gotta wait for Michael first. He's, having some problems." Yuuma looks at the door nervously.

"What problems?" Kaito raises an eyebrow.

"IV and Chris came." And Yuuma has that expression he always has when he badly hides something, but Kaito doesn't press it because Yuuma will eventually tell him anyway.

Kaito sighs. "What part of 'let Michael make his own decisions' was so hard to understand?"

"Alright, we're taking him home." Ryouga cracks his knuckles, and Kaito is vaguely concerned, because.

Ryouga looks visibly tired but is also definitely intoxicated enough to be willing to pick a fight, and right now Kaito would rather just—

(go home and continue where they left off)

-not have that happen tonight.

But Ryouga is already on the way back in and Kaito curses himself when he feels himself hurrying after him and catching his wrist, "Listen. He's not supposed to be here, they're his brothers and we can't just—"

"They're also your annoying ex and the guy who fucked up my life. Do you _really_ think I care about what rights they have?" Ryouga rolls his eyes. "You can—"

"Stay at home so I can pick you up at the hospital tomorrow? Sure, totally gonna do that." Kaito sighs and walks past Ryouga. "—You coming?"

Ryouga smirks. "Sure."

* * *

"Oh, Ryouga, what an honor. And even Kaito? You guys are like a married couple." IV laughs when Ryouga enters the side room of the club, quickly followed by Kaito.

"Fuck off." Ryouga clenches his fist.

If anything does happen, Alit is on the other side of the door— Kaito told him to please keep an eye on it— so now it's just them and Michael and the two assholes.

 _Wonderful._

Chris eyes Kaito's shirt and Kaito finds himself smirking because for once the assumed reason for the purple is half-justified.

"So, Chris. Why are you here?"

Chris remains silent and looks at Michael.

"Don't worry," Michael says, despite no one even having asked him anything yet. "It's fine."

Ryouga gets up. "What do you mean, 'it's fine'?! Do you want to keep getting dragged into that stuff forever?"

And Kaito feels like maybe when IV in person is around, Ryouga's actual brother instincts are showing, because whoever treats their little brother like—

"We want to stop it, Kamishiro Ryouga."

Chris with his 'referring to people by full name passive-aggressively' thing again.

"Doesn't look like it." Kaito crosses his arms.

Chris looks genuinely upset, "Listen, we—"

"Let's just leave. They wouldn't listen anyway," IV shrugs. "Honestly speaking, I wouldn't, either."

"Not like we have a reason to." Ryouga grits his teeth. "After what you did to Rio—"

"—That was an accident." IV hisses, and Kaito can hear his voice trembling.

"Accident?! As if, you—" Ryouga stops when Kaito elbows him.

"So?" Kaito looks expectantly at Chris.

"We basically told dad that we're only taking Michael home if he stops all of this in return."

"And that worked?"

IV rolls his eyes. "It took over a week and help from Yuuma's dad."

 _That explains why Yuuma seemed so weird earlier._

Kaito hadn't considered that, given how Kazuma tends to rarely be at home, but it comes in conveniently now; the friendship between Kazuma, Byron and Faker.

(Or current lack thereof.)

Ryouga still seems unconvinced, but slightly calmed. "So? What was that about the accident?"

"Let's go, III." IV moves to go, but Ryouga blocks the way.

"Tell me."

"Thomas." Chris sighs. "Tell him."

"Why the hell do I have to—"

"You've been visiting her every week, nii-sama," Michael interrupts. "Ryouga deserves to know."

IV grits his teeth, but the door is blocked and no one is willing to let him out. "—All I planned was to slow her down and make it look like something happened. But it all went wrong. It's still my responsibility, so that explanation doesn't matter."

Kaito speaks up. "That scar. You got it from the accident, right?"

IV doesn't look at him, and that's enough of an answer.

Ryouga clenches his fist and he punches the wall. "Damn it."

Suddenly, the door opens, shoving Ryouga in Kaito's direction.

"Are you guys okay?" Yuuma smiles. "I listened. It's late, and maybe—" He struggles for words, but Vector chimes in from behind,

"Maybe it'd be for the best if we call it a night."

Kaito looks at Ryouga for an answer, who slowly nods before dragging Kaito out by the hand.

Kaito intertwines their fingers, and Ryouga lets it happen. He remains silent, though, and despite both of them being the opposite of sober, Kaito can tell that it must've hit Ryouga in some way.

* * *

The train ride back is quiet and uneventful.

Yuuma tries to start conversations, but everyone is tired and while Vector is more than willing to talk, it's mostly the two of them and not Ryouga and Kaito.

(Somewhere in-between they start whispering and Kaito knows it can't mean anything good.)

Ryouga is quiet, texting on LINE with one hand while still holding Kaito's with the other.

When they get out of the train, Ryouga speaks up, "I told him. Happy now?"

"Told who what?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Kaito raises an eyebrow, implying it's not obvious.

"Durbe. Why I left."

"Oh."

Ryouga scowls. "Don't act like that's a surprise."

(That's a reaction Kaito prefers.)

"Well then, Nasch, we'll be going~" Vector waves, and Kaito raises an eyebrow at Yuuma.

"He's crashing at my place since it's late and Michael went home."

"You're letting too many people sleep over." And by that Kaito means, don't let Vector sleep over.

Yuuma laughs. "That reminds me of that time you overworked yourself and passed out and I had to carry you to my place."

"That doesn't count as a sleepover."

"Totally does!" Yuuma pouts. "Anyway, we'll be going. See you, Shark, Kaito!"

Ryouga waves lightly for a goodbye. Then he turns to Kaito. "You may be older, but you're nothing like an adult."

"Tch."

* * *

On the way home, Ryouga is shivering again, and maybe it's still the alcohol— Kaito is vaguely aware that he'd probably do this anyway— but he wordlessly shrugs off his jacket and puts it on Ryouga's shoulders.

Ryouga pulls it closer. "So alcohol makes you less of a dick."

"I can't say the same about you." Kaito shrugs.

Ryouga walks in silence next to him for a few minutes, his hand brushing against Kaito's every now and then, and Kaito could swear he tried to reach for it at one point.

It does take a bit, but then Ryouga does speak up, slowly, "It's frustrating."

Kaito unlocks the door and waits for Ryouga to continue.

"He's still an ass for what he did and I'm still mad but. Knowing it's an accident makes me feel like I never had a hand in preventing it. And he didn't as much as I thought he had, either."

Kaito can understand that.

"That's probably gonna sound stupid, but—"

"It's the same with your breakup?"

"Yeah. It had nothing to do with me, but it still affected me."

Ryouga sighs, pulls off Kaito's jacket and lets himself drop on the bed. "How did you deal with it?"

"I ran from it until you came along." Kaito lies down next to Ryouga.

"Huh?"

"I could've kept running."

"But?"

"I chose to move on."

"Are you saying I should, too?"

"Haven't you, already?"

Ryouga makes eye contact with Kaito. "What do you mean?"

"These last months, you haven't thought about the accident as much. Rio's recovery is going smoothly. Do you really have any reason to dwell on revenge?"

Ryouga laughs. "Didn't know you've been observing me that much."

"Haven't been. You're just being obvious."

(And maybe Yuuma brings it up when Ryouga isn't listening, too.)

"Tch." Ryouga directs his gaze at the ceiling. "But you're right. She wouldn't want me to, either."

Kaito nods although Ryouga can't see it.

"So—"

"So—"

They both stop.

Kaito decides to go first, "—About earlier," but he really doesn't know what he wanted to say, so he stops.

"We can keep going."

"What?"

"What?" Ryouga raises an eyebrow. "It's not like you didn't enjoy it."

Kaito doesn't know what his own expression is like, but it makes Ryouga smirk, so he scowls. "The part where you tried to bite me was not enjoyable."

"Whatever. Odds are we'll have forgotten by tomorrow anyway."

And then Kaito remembers.

"Wait." He takes out his phone, checks Facebook, awaiting the inevitable, and— "Good luck coming up with an explanation."

[Vector S.]

hey Shark (Ryouga K.) is making out with Kaito T., isn't that nice? #SharkFanclub #Sharkies

[Yuuma T., Alit B. and 2.101 others liked this post.]

Attached is a photo of them kissing on that couch— _god,_ they look like a mess—, shot with a lot of zoom from far away.

"Oh, this is good."

"What?"

"They were shipping me with IV before."

"You're welcome."

"Not like you did anything."

Kaito pulls Ryouga closer and kisses him. "Now I did."

Next thing he knows is that Ryouga is on top of him again.


End file.
